Gloom over airport decision

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Created: 24 May 2016

Campaigners hoping for regular flight links to be reintroduced to and from Skye were disappointed when the Inverness City-Region deal was announced.

The deal will see over £315 million pledged over a period of 10 years for the purpose of boosting economics of Inverness and the Highlands. However, these funds will not be used to assist in redeveloping the airstrip at Ashaig.

It was claimed that a Skye airport would not bring wide benefits on a regional basis. The council's director of development and infrastructure, Stuart Black, says he made a "strong case" for the Skye airport to be included in the Inverness City-Region deal.

However, it was ultimately deemed that other improvements, such as a major roads project to connect the A9 and A82, investments in the University of the Highlands and Islands and the ambition to make the Highlands "the most digitally connected rural region in Europe" would bring wider benefits to the area than those offered by a Skye airport.

Campaign group, Fly Skye, state on their Facebook page that they will "not give up the fight to have the choice of travel to and from Skye and Lochalsh."